Main Goals and Tasks

The basic trend in the research of the Laboratory is to learn the population structure in the phytophages insects of arid and tropical communities and their role in biocenoses. With special reference to the family of leaf beetles, under study are the imaginal and larval taxonomy of phytophagous insects at the world scale, the comparative morphology and evolution at the group level, the biotopic distribution and the tropic relationships. The Laboratory stores one of the world-largest collections of leaf beetles of the globe embracing about 20.000 species of imago and about 800 species of larvae. Much attention is paid to zoogeography, including the zoogeographic zonation of Mongolia, Afghanistan and Vietnam.

Ecology of the major leaf beetles which are serious pests in Siberia, the Far East, Mongolia and Vietnam has been studied. Through research has involved the influence of radiation on insects in Chernobyl zone, clearwing moths of the Eastern Hemisphere and diplopods of the world.